


Stay Inside With Me

by pencilguin



Series: The Other Mes Live With What They've Got [6]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Mutual Pining, Quarantine, Roommates, Vague Self-Isolation Situation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:20:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23357650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pencilguin/pseuds/pencilguin
Summary: Living with Paul was alright. Not quite living the dream of student life that Hugh would have imagined, but then again he was busy with med school anyway. Paul was quiet and taciturn, and usually out working or in his own room. Their interactions throughout any given day were minimal. In fact, they rarely ever talked at all and even after three months, Hugh knew next to nothing about this guy he was living with.That is, until about about a week ago.And now there’s a state-wide lockdown and all schools are closed or moved their courses online and the only things you’re allowed to leave the confinements of your apartment for are the barest essentials. And when you’re holed up together in a space as small as a shared student apartment and both at home all day, you’re kind of forced to interact.
Relationships: Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets
Series: The Other Mes Live With What They've Got [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1332434
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	Stay Inside With Me

It’s been about three months now since Hugh moved in with Paul as a roommate, and it’s been… okay. Really, it was such a stroke of luck that he heard of this room opening up through the friend of a friend, and Hugh basically would have gladly taken _anything_ over his last shared apartment situation, just to get away from that.

Living with Paul was alright. Not quite living the dream of student life that Hugh would have imagined, but then again he was busy with med school anyway. Paul was quiet and taciturn, and usually out working or in his own room. Their interactions throughout any given day were minimal. In fact, they rarely ever talked at all and even after three months, Hugh knew next to nothing about this guy he was living with.

That is, until about about a week ago.

And now there’s a state-wide lockdown and all schools are closed or moved their courses online and the only things you’re allowed to leave the confinements of your apartment for are the barest essentials. And when you’re holed up together in a space as small as a shared student apartment and both at home all day, you’re kind of forced to interact.

Of course Paul still mostly keeps to himself, and when they pass each other he doesn’t talk a lot, and he always has his nose in a book or his eyes glued to his tablet, usually even while eating. Hugh just frowns at it or raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t comment. Still, this seems excessive, in his opinion; even he doesn’t spend what seems like every waking minute working, despite studying medicine and currently being at the top of his class. Actually, these days, it feels as if he spends half of each day on the phone or in video calls or texting. When he moved out here, he left behind an expansive family and a lot of good friends, in addition to the ones living here in the city but still out of reach, thanks to everyone’s forced isolation. He tries to keep to his room during these, but occasionally he’s in the kitchen or on the couch or just wandering around during one of the calls, and so far, even when Paul was in the room, he hasn’t commented on nor complained about it, thankfully. On one or two occasions, Hugh noticed him looking up when their paths crossed in one of the shared spaces, as if he wanted to speak up and say something, but he never did.

By day three, Hugh is ready to crawl up the walls, going crazy from the isolation. Paul barely counts as company and he misses too many of his friends. And fresh air, and working out in the gym, and going for a morning run (even though he hates running usually, he would give _a lot_ to be able to do it right now).

So one morning, while he’s in the kitchen, still trying to figure out the right dosage of caffeine for when he’s not running on a sixty percent sleep deficit, and Paul trots in to grab a bowl, a carton of cereal and some milk to make himself breakfast, Hugh decides to break the ice between them.

“Good morning,” he says, trying to sound casually cheerful.

Paul throws him a glance while he reaches into the cupboard. “Mornin’.” He pulls out the cereal and pours some into his bowl before putting the rest of it right back in the exact spot it came from, avoiding eye contact again.

“Um, so, how’re you dealing with the enforced isolation?”

He pauses pouring milk to look up at Hugh again, his expression quizzical, but Hugh isn’t sure if he’s detecting a hint of annoyance in his features or if that’s just his default expression. From what he’s seen, there’s a perpetual frown on Paul’s face at all times.

“It has its pros and cons.”

Hugh leans against the kitchen counter, facing him, and takes a sip of his coffee, which he quickly realizes is still much too strong. He briefly pulls a face before asking, “Such as?”

After putting the milk back in the fridge as well, Paul picks up his bowl and a spoon and moves over to the small kitchen table that’s fixed to the opposite wall. Hugh follows and sits down across from him.

“It saves a lot of time that I’d usually waste on annoying travel or face-to-face interactions with idiots. But my actual work isn’t going as smoothly yet online as I’d like it to, and I can’t get some books and other resources that only exist as physical copies in the library.”

Hugh is surprised by the amount of words, it’s probably more than Paul has ever spoken to him at once. “Yeah, that sounds annoying,” he responds automatically.

The more surprised is he when Paul asks, “What about you?”

“Me?”

“You’re not home much usually.”

“Yeah, it’s…” He sighs. “I admit it’s a little exhausting, being locked up in here for days. My workload has actually gone down a bit since the curriculum has been cut down to the essentials for now. So I’ve actually been getting some decent sleep again.”

“You’re also on the phone a lot.”

“Family and friends, yeah.”

Paul stares at him for a while, absent-mindedly stirring his cereal with his spoon. “You’re an extrovert, aren’t you?”

“Sort of,” Hugh responds, surprised by the question. “I value my alone time, but I also need the social connections and interaction.” He bites back a comment about already feeling touch-starved, reluctant to overshare.

Paul looks into his bowl of cereal. “Yeah, I imagine it’s tough for you. I’m just glad about every interaction I can avoid, it’s easy to forget that not everyone is wired that way.”

Hugh frowns. “I hope it’s not bothering you that I’m in here all the time now?”

“No, you’re fine, I don’t mind that.” Paul looks up at him with a smile, melting away Hugh’s insecurity, and for the first time again since their initial meeting, he is struck by just how attractive Paul actually is. And, right now, actively _cute_. He’d tried to file the thought away, back then, because getting involved with your roommate seems like a recipe for disaster — especially after the one he just got out of; if Paul turned out to be anything like that, Hugh would be in deep trouble — and because he doesn’t even know if Paul is gay or anything. It never came up, and he doesn’t want to pry. It’s not like Hugh casually introduced himself by saying that he’s gay, either.

He also notices how friendly Paul is, as they chat a bit at the kitchen table that morning. Blunt and with a clever, dry sense of humor, honest and outspoken, and just very genuine. And, apparently, full of surprises.

They chat occasionally over the next few days, and even share a few meals. And Hugh’s starting to develop a crush, and he doesn’t know what to do, because either way, there is no escape.

One evening, Hugh is washing his plate and cutlery when he hears a door slam shut with a loud pang — the door to Paul’s room. He looks up and sees Paul stomp past the kitchen, freezing when he sees Hugh standing in there. Blushing.

“Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to…” His voice trails off, and after a moment, he walks on, and Hugh hears him cross the living room and step out onto their small balcony.

After he’s done doing the dishes, Hugh waits a bit to see if Paul returns, but he doesn’t. It’s still cold outside, even more so at this hour, after sunset, and he didn’t see Paul taking his jacket. So he decides to go check on him.

“Is something wrong?” he asks carefully after stepping out into the cold air next to him.

Paul looks over and sighs. “Just frustrating stuff at work.”

Hugh suppresses the reflex to reach for his hand on the railing. Instead, he settles both of his in front of himself. “I’m sorry.”

He glances over. Paul shakes his head. “Not your fault.”

“I thought you’re a student?”

“At the university, yes. I also work in a lab. That’s my main project. Along with working on my PhDs.”

“‘PhDs’? Plural?”

“Two. Mycology and quantum physics.”

Hugh blinks a few times, stunned. No wonder Paul is always busy. “That’s a lot.”

“Yeah. May have been a bad idea, but it saves time.”

Hugh thinks about this for a moment, watching Paul closely as he stares out over the night skyline. Then he takes a deep breath. “Do you have any plans for tonight?”

Paul looks at him, sighs. “I’m feeling blocked, I don’t think I can focus on anything right now.”

“Then take the rest of the evening off?” Hugh asks softly. “We — if you want, that is, of course — we can have dinner together and watch a movie or something.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice.” Paul smiles, and Hugh’s heart beats faster, again. “I can cook something. Does vegetarian lasagna sound good to you?”

“Sounds amazing.” Hugh can’t help smiling at him in return. “Let me help?”

“Sure.”

They cook their dinner together, talking about food, and when it’s done they settle down with their plates in front of the tv. Hugh is somehow simultaneously feeling relaxed and excited. He’s still trying to make sense of how easy Paul is to talk to, how pleasant and comforting it feels to be in his company.

When they sit down on the couch Hugh gets nervous, unsure of where or how to sit, so he hesitates and lets Paul choose the distance between them. He lets himself sink down not far from the middle, so Hugh figures out where to settle down in relation to him. He finds himself pleasantly surprised that it’s a little closer than he expected.

The dinner Paul made is delicious, probably the best lasagna Hugh has ever had, and Paul is so much more interesting to watch than the generic blockbuster movie from last year that they’re streaming. Occasionally, Paul glances over, and then Hugh quickly looks away, probably blushing. Out of the corner of his eye he sometimes sees Paul’s eyes turning back to the screen, a little smile playing around his lips. It makes his heart beat even faster and yet he still doesn’t quite allow himself to hope that it means what he thinks it does.

“Ugh.”

Hugh’s eyes flicker over to Paul at the sound he just made, and then, seeing his gaze still fixed on the tv, he looks back at the screen, where the action hero has grabbed the damsel in distress and they’re currently eating each other’s faces. He turns to Paul again.

“Something wrong?”

“Just… _this_ , you know?” Paul mutters, gesturing at the screen. “It’s so annoying.”

The corner of Hugh’s mouth twitches into a smile. “What, you don’t like generic, inorganic romantic subplots?”

“This is just further ruining an otherwise mediocre movie,” Paul argues. “But yes, I dislike them in general.”

“I agree. They’re unimaginative and detract more from everything else than they actually add anything of substance.”

“Plus,” Paul adds, “it’s always the same bland, straight, white shit. Hollywood could at least get a little creative for a change.”

“God, yes,” Hugh responds reflexively before he can even think about his answer. It takes him another second or two before the full extent of Paul’s words sinks in. Of course this could mean nothing, other than him being a decent person who’s rightfully tired of mainstream media’s same old bullshit. But maybe…

“Instead, we usually get to die.”

This causes Hugh to pause. “‘We’?”

“Well, gay characters,” Paul explains. “There’s a whole pop culture trope around it, ‘burying your gays’, because it’s so pervasive.”

Hugh stares at him, everything else fading into background noise, the boring movie completely forgotten. _He’s gay. He’s gay, he’s gay, he’s gay. Paul, my roommate of three months, whom I’ve been having a crush on for at least a full week, is gay, too._

“You’re gay?” is actually the only thing that comes out of his mouth.

“Yeah.” Paul narrows his eyes, an almost hostile defensiveness suddenly seeps into his voice. “You got a problem with that?”

“What? — No!” Hugh quickly responds in a mild panic. “Not at all! I’m just surprised because I had no idea.”

Somehow Paul doesn’t seem convinced. “I’m not gonna make a move on you or anything, so you don’t need to freak out.”

“I —” Hugh holds his gaze, and he can’t help the softness he’s feeling. He wonders if Paul had any trouble with roommates in the past, or with anyone else giving him shit over his sexuality. He has to suppress the urge to reach out to comfort him, afraid that it may be unwanted. “Sorry about just blurting that out like this. I’m not freaking out, and I definitely don’t have a problem with it. I know that trope, and you’re absolutely right. And, Paul — I’m gay, too.”

Paul stares at him and blinks, several times. It takes a while before he breaks the silence. “Wait. You are? Really?”

“Really. I guess I always assume that everyone knows, or immediately can tell. It’s not like I’m keeping it a secret. But I guess it didn’t come up… Maybe I should’ve told you upfront.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Paul quickly responds, his hands shooting up to underline his point with gestures. “Of course you’re not under any obligation… And I apologize,” he adds more quietly. “I shouldn’t have made assumptions and been so… confrontational.”

Hugh smiles at him softly. “I get it. We can all get a little defensive about this. Or even a lot.”

“Yeah,” Paul mutters, his gaze dropping to the floor and a shy smile suddenly on his lips.

Hugh leans back, observing him fondly. He can’t stop smiling himself. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect this. But I guess that’s no surprise; we barely knew each other before this week, despite living together.”

“I don’t usually interact much with any of my roommates,” Paul responds. He reaches for the remote to turn down the volume of their movie’s explosion-laden finale so they can have a conversation. Neither of them is even turned towards the screen any more; Paul’s sitting cross-legged on the couch, his hands playing with the hems of his pant legs, Hugh lounging with one foot tucked under him and one arm propped up on the back of the couch. “And it’s not like I go out and date, either. I mean — even if I wanted to, I’m much too busy.”

“I hear you. Ever since starting med school I’ve been _swamped_ with work. It’s hard to find time for anything else. And now that I have some time, of course, I can’t go out.”

“To be honest,” Paul mumbles, “When you first showed up here… This is gonna sound awful and judgmental, but I assumed you were one of these dimwit jocks, like the ones that used to pick on me in school and — and I guess that made me want to interact with you even less. Then you said you’re studying to become a doctor and…” He’s blushing deeply with embarrassment now, staring at his hands that are still fidgeting in his lap. “Well, maybe I thought, ‘Okay, so he’s a smart jock, one of those guys who only care about how they look and how popular they are and think they’re better than everyone else.’ But this week we’ve been talking more and none of this turned out to be true, so — I apologize.”

Hugh laughs. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. It’s a common assumption. Though,” he chuckles again, “I have to admit I’m not that used to people assuming I’m straight. But I can see how you didn’t have much to go on in that regard.” He blushes a little now as well. “I guess I also had some misconceptions about you. But talking to you this week has been really nice, and I’m glad that we seem to be getting along.”

Paul blushes deeper, but he smiles. “Yeah, me too.”

Neither of them seems to really know what to say next, and Hugh is unsure if he should make a move now or if Paul would find it inappropriate. As the sounds of their movie in the background fade into music, Paul turns his head to look at the tv.

“The movie’s over. Guess we missed the ending.”

“I think I can live with that,” Hugh remarks.

Paul snorts. “Yeah… It kinda sucked.”

“Do you wanna watch anything else?”

“Sure, why not?” Paul stares into the distance for a few moments, thinking about something. “One of my friends recommended this really nice, queer indie movie to me a while ago, but I just never found the time to watch it.”

Hugh’s smile just won’t fade. “Sounds great.”

Paul picks out the movie and Hugh gets up to refill their glasses and the snack bowl before they settle back down. A few minutes into the movie, Paul moves out of his spot to reach for the blanket that’s lying folded on the other end of the couch next to Hugh and pulls it over to him.

“Feeling cold?”

“M-hm,” Paul responds while unfolding the blanket.

“Can we share it?” Hugh asks, feeling his cheeks heat up.

Paul smiles wordlessly and drapes it over both of them. Then he settles down — snuggling against Hugh’s side.

Hugh completely loses track of the movie at this point, because Paul sitting next to him, the warmth of his body, the scent of his hair (shampoo?), the tiny movements of his chest as he breathes in and out — all of this is so much more important right now. It takes him a while to get accustomed to it, for his pulse to calm down at least a little bit, before he can try getting back into the story and following the heroine and her crush as they grow closer and share their first kiss. He’s so content and comfortable snuggled up here with Paul that he doesn’t notice at first how he’s getting a little sleepy, how they gradually slide down lower on the couch, until Paul rests his head on his shoulder for more comfort, and then he’s right back on high alert, although it’s in the best possible way.

As the scene on their tv gets more steamy, Hugh starts wondering if there’s an unspoken tension growing between the two of them or if he’s just imagining it. He’s beginning to feel too warm, becoming hyperaware of both of their bodies and the contact between them, and wonders if he should say something to break the tension and ease the mood, though he has no idea what.

His panic is interrupted when Paul comments. “Wow.”

“Hm?”

“Them.” He nods in the direction of the tv. “I mean — this is really good. And they have great chemistry.”

Hugh thinks for a moment. “Yeah. I’m not really into women, at all, but this? It’s… hot.”

“Yes. And the photography is amazing. Everything looks gorgeous. Really well done.”

“Absolutely.” Hugh chuckles. “Certainly heaps better than all the straight porn I had to suffer through with friends as a teenager.”

It makes Paul laugh as well. “Definitely. I think it also works so well because the story made us like and feel for these characters. In the other one I didn’t even care if action dude and his girlfriend got eaten by monsters or not.”

“Yeah.” Hugh smiles at him, and they fall back into a comfortable silence while watching.

“You know,” Paul mumbles out of the blue a few minutes later. “What you said about… about not being able to go out and date…” Hugh tilts his head slightly to look at him. His expression seems neutral, but there’s a treacherous blush on his cheeks. “You know, since we’re both stuck in here, um… If you need someone, well, I’m here, and I wouldn’t mind.”

A sound escapes Hugh’s mouth and he only realizes belatedly that he just laughed out loud. Paul bolts upright and glares at him, indignant and clearly hurt.

“Okay, I get it, I’m beneath your standards. It was just an offer, forget about it.”

Hugh’s face falls. “What? _No_ , Paul! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you. That’s not what I meant at all.”

He sits up now, too, pausing the movie this time before continuing, and leans forward. Paul has crossed his arms in front of his chest, a physical embodiment of him closing off, curling up into himself, Hugh believes.

“I promise. Actually… While I’m genuinely flattered by your offer — yes, _seriously_ — I really enjoyed spending more time with you this week and getting to know you better, and found that I like you a lot. So, rather than just casual sex because there’s no-one else available… can I suggest something else?”

Paul watches him, with those deep blue eyes of his, standing out so prominently in his beautiful, pale face, still wearing a frown as if he doesn’t quite believe what he’s hearing.

“What do you mean?”

“Paul, would you like to go out with me?” Hugh pauses. “Okay, poor choice of words at the moment.” He cocks his head and tries again. “Stay inside with me?”

Paul lets his folded arms sink down. “You mean like… boyfriends?”

“Yeah.” Hugh nods. “Because I like you, and you’re cute, and I think I’ve been having a crush on you all week.”

Now it’s Paul’s turn to laugh, and it’s the most endearing thing, starting as something like a giggle before he breaks into full-on laughter, then covers his face with his hand in an attempt to calm himself down. “Wow, this… Are you serious?”

“Y-yes?”

“Amazing. Me too. Looks like we’ve both been crushing on each other.” He leans forward, smiling. “If I say ‘yes’, does that mean I get to kiss you?”

Hugh grins back at him. “If you say ‘yes’, you’re obligated to kiss me.”

“Good,” Paul says, leaning forward. “Then my answer is ‘yes’.”

**Author's Note:**

> No generic Hollywood movies were harmed in the making of this story. 
> 
> Before someone calls me out: Yes, I realized afterwards that as a medical student, Hugh probably wouldn't be locked in right now, but out there helping. But I'm not gonna change it now. I deliberately kept the details of their situation vague enough, because I'm sure we're all immersed in it enough in day-to-day life right now that we don't need the full experience in escapist fiction. Maybe they're self-isolating for different reasons. Maybe they're actually quarantined with light symptoms. Take your pick. 
> 
> Stay safe, take care of yourselves and others, follow the official scientific/medical guidelines, wash your hands. This has been a PSA. All the love! <3


End file.
